Selecting Text Key Assignment

1. TEXT SET
ENGLISH 2
Ms. Peña
Johns Hopkins University

2. ◦ If you had the
opportunity to
talk to President
Trump, what
would you say?
◦ Must be
appropriate and in
academic
language.

3. Your Voice Matters
◦ A creator’s unique point of view and style will emerge in the
way they choose and use literary devices to express their
personal experiences and ideas.

4. Good Hair by Sherman Alexie
◦ The quantitative measures indicate 10th-grade students should read it with ease or slight difficulty if the
student is an English Language Learner. Students could define unknown words, helping them make further
inferences about the theme of the poem, helping students expand their vocabulary.
◦ The poem will expose students to the Native American narrative, on which is rarely mentioned in text books.
Students will learn how to analyze symbolism, imagery and discuss how an writer’s personal experience
influences his/her writing. Paired with other poems, student will be able to make cross genre connections and
inference about author’s purpose and style.
Quantitative measure of the text 8.9
Range 1050L-1335L
Associated Band Level 9th – 10th grade

5. Qualitative Measures
Text Structure Slightly Complex structure. The poem is written as a series of questions. The questions relate to stereotypes and
Native American history. The narrator asks the character, but the character never responds. The poem does not use
visual aids.
Language Very Complex. The writer uses repetition and figurative language to emphasize the dark humor of the poem and create an
ironic tone. The writer uses symbolism to describe the importance and pride a Native American man has in his hair and to
describe the stereotypes Native Americans are given. The symbolism is not clear to the reader until the third or fourth
reading. The language used maybe unfamiliar to a 10th-grade student and exceedingly complex for English Language
Learners. For example, “Do you miss the strange women who loved to touch your hair?
Do you miss being eroticized because of your braids?”, A 10th-grade reader may not fully understand the context of the word
and its impact on the theme. Students will need to read the poem multiple times to fully develop an understanding of the
poem. The use of connotative diction in the poem requires students to have an understanding of the definition and how it
relates to the entire poem.
Meaning/ Purpose Very Complex The writer creates a sarcastic tone in the poem by questioning the Indian Boy on why he cut off his braids. The
theme is implicit and requires multiple readings if the reader is not familiar with Native American history. Understanding the
theme of the poem may be a difficult task for students who have no prior knowledge of Native American history or Native
American stereotypes. The purpose of the poem is to demonstrate to the reader the loss of identity and culture Native
Americans have go through and how that has altered their identity in the 21st century. Additionally, the students will need to
understand how laws and beliefs created by the United States government helped assimilate Native Americans in to Western
culture.
Knowledge
Demands
Very Complex. The poem explores themes and ideas that have students may not know or understand. The poem references
stereotype and culture elements that are specific to Native Americans. Although, the students are in high school they are
oblivious and know nothing about other cultures and different perspectives of history.

6. Rationale
◦ The quantitative measures indicate 10th-grade students should read it with ease or slight difficulties if the
student is an English Language Learner. Students should define unknown words, helping them make
further inferences about the theme of the poem or text students expand their vocabulary.
◦ This text will expose students to a narrative in history that is rarely mentioned in text books, the forced
assimilation of Native Americans. This text will help create diversity in the classroom and help students
learn about other cultures, ideas, and writing styles. “Good Hair” has multiple levels of meaning which will
push students to make inferences about its historical significance, author’s purpose, use of figurative
language and its effect on tone. Students will analyze how the writer reveals the theme of the poem
through a dark and humorous tone. Sherman Alexie’s style is witty and ironic, which is demonstrated in
this poem. Students will continue to make connections on how a writer’s style influences meaning and
purpose.
◦ Paired with other poems students can analyze how each writer uses figurative language to create tone and
theme. Students will be able to understand how the creator’s point of view impacts their writing. Students
can compare the diction used in Caesar Chavez’s speech to the Commonwealth of California to Good Hair,
making a cross genre connection on how writers uses style to express their voice.
◦ Students will analyze the use of symbolism in Good Hair and Mortal Man: The Caterpillar. The
supplemental text will help students connect author’s purpose across multiple genres and establish how
writers create a theme and tone.

7. Differentiated Instruction
For struggling students, using a video or audio read aloud of the poem will help them follow
along, highlighting figurative language, diction, and syntax. Pairing the poem with a brief video
introduction about the writer will help ignite student prior knowledge and make personal
connections. If students are struggling with identifying author’s purpose and theme, scaffolding
the meaning of the poem and informational text in a small group will be beneficial.

8. Student Activities
◦ Students can create poems using 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person point of view discussing
a societal pressure or stereotype. Students can practice creating poems focusing on their ability
to use imagery, tone, or connotative diction to create a theme about social justice, the
environment, and
◦ Compare the use of language in a non-fiction text and poem
◦ Students can create poems using symbols that represent their lives and their obstacles they
overcome.
◦ Analyze how the writer makes his/her voice matter and how the writer expresses his/her ideas to
the world.
◦ Gallery walk of student work, students can read poems created by their peers and analyze their
use of figurative language, diction, and style.

9. TEKS
◦ 10.9.D synthesize and make logical connections between ideas and details in several texts selected to reflect a range of viewpoints
on the same topic and support those findings with textual evidence.
◦ 10.7 Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions
about how an author's sensory language creates imagery in literary text and provide evidence from text to support their
understanding. Students are expected to explain the function of symbolism, allegory, and allusions in literary works.
◦ 10.2.C relate the figurative language of a literary work to its historical and cultural setting
◦ 10.4.B write a poem using a variety of poetic techniques (e.g., structural elements, figurative language) and a variety of poetic
forms (e.g., sonnets, ballads)
◦ 10.15.C (C) write an interpretative response to an expository or a literary text (e.g., essay or review) that:
◦ (i) extends beyond a summary and literal analysis;
◦ (ii) addresses the writing skills for an analytical essay and provides evidence from the text using embedded quotations; and
◦ (iii) analyzes the aesthetic effects of an author's use of stylistic and rhetorical device
◦ 10.5.C evaluate the connection between forms of narration (e.g., unreliable, omniscient) and tone in works of fiction
◦ (6) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Literary Nonfiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions
about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction and provide evidence from text to support their
understanding. Students are expected to evaluate the role of syntax and diction and the effect of voice, tone, and imagery on a
speech, literary essay, or other forms of literary nonfiction.

10. Text Set
◦ Good Hair by Sherman Alexie (poem)
◦ Supplemental Text:
◦ The Boarding School Experience in Native American Literature by Joseph
Bruchac (expository text)
◦ Address to the Commonwealth Club of California by Caesar Chavez
(speech)
◦ Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall (poem)
◦ Mortal Man: The Caterpillar by Kendrick Lamar (song)
◦ The World Is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth (poem)
◦ Somos Mas Americanos by Los Tigeres Del Norte (song)
◦ Malala Yousafzai’s Address to the United Nations (speech)

11. “The Boarding School Experience in Native
American Literature” by Joseph Bruchac
◦ Expository text explaining the life of Native Americans during the 19th and 20th century. The text
describes laws and ideologies placed on Native Americans in order for them to assimilate into
Western Culture. The text is slightly complex in terms of vocabulary. Students who have no or
little prior knowledge of Native American history may struggle with making connections
addressing the significance to Native American Culture.
◦ Quantitative measures: The text includes unfamiliar vocabulary and complex sentence structure.
The use visual features will help students obtain a deeper understanding of life for Native
Americans in the Boarding Schools. The visual aids demonstrate the drastic change Native
Americans faced, stripping them entirely of their identity.
◦ This text pairs directly with Good Hair. Students will relate historical setting and background

12. Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall
◦ Dudley Randall uses rhyme and imagery to create a clear message against racial violence.
Students will read the poem and analyze how the imagery helps create tone. This text can help
students understand POV because it begin with a conversation between a mother and her
daughter. Students will connect the use of dialogue between mother and daughter to the switch
to 3rd person POV. Connecting back to the anchor text by discussing point of view and its effect
on the reader.
◦ Randall’s poem has a simple form, but the meaning and historical significance of the poem
involves prior knowledge of the civil rights movement and the church bombing in Birmingham.
◦ Students will make real world connections between the events in Birmingham in 1963 and the
current civil rights events.

13. Address to the Commonwealth Club of
California
◦ Caesar Chavez was a Mexican American civil rights activist who strongly advocated nonviolent
tactics and unionism to create the farmworkers movement. In this speech, Chavez is addressing
the horrific conditions in which migrate workers work in. The speech is Chavez’s call to action for
farmworkers’ rights and social change.
◦ Students will understand how rhetoric and diction are used to create tone and theme in the
speech. Students can compare the diction used in a non fiction text and a poem. Students will
analyze the use of word choice across genres diving deeper into the implicit meaning of both
text.
◦ Text dependent questions: How does the writer create his voice?
◦ Cross-curricular activity, with Professional Communications Class students can create speeches
about their passion, paired with PC students will be graded on their use of rhetorical devices
and professional execution of the speech. Speech can be presented to the entire school, or both
English and Professional Communication classes.

14. Somos Mas Americanos
◦ Somos mas Americanos translate to “We are more American”, it is written and sang by Los
Tigeres Del Norte a famous Mexican norteño band. The complexity of this song is demonstrated
through its connotative diction and use of allusions. The song references multiple historical
events in which students will have understand. The song explores an uncommon theme and
narrative through Mexican History looking at U.S history.
◦ The variety of text selection offers students multiple perspectives on different historical events
that are often overlooked in class. Providing students with writers that demonstrate how they
express their unique voice and ideas will inspire them to express their ideas. Students will be
able to practice emulating

15. Mortal Man: The Caterpillar
◦ Kendrick Lamar usage of symbolism to describe how a person is shaped by his/her
environment. The song can be used to help students make inference about the song’s
symbolism and its connection to theme. Students can analyze how the caterpillar’s setting
shaped his/her life.
◦ The complexity of the song is based on the implicit meaning the writing creates, students will
have to dig deep into the text in order to understand the theme. The real life connection is very
complex because it covers multiple themes about life changes, overcoming obstacles, moving
past expectations.
◦ The students will connect how Kendrick Lamar and Sherman Alexie used symbols to convey an
abstract idea.
◦ Students will enhance their poetic analysis

16. The World Is Too Much With Us
◦ The quantitative measures for this poem are in early elementary because of its simplistic form.
The vocabulary used in the poem will push students to become stronger readers. Students
analyze how the poem uses figurative language and symbolism to describe the chaos humanity
has caused on the Earth. The structure of this poem is un like the structure of other poems. The
students will analyze how structure effects the meaning of the poem.

17. Malala Yousafzai’s Address to the United
Nations
◦ Youtube clip of Malala presenting her speech and students will follow along by reading the text,
helping ELLs here how other people speak. Although Malala has an accent it is important for students
to hear people of color and people with accents speak, but they are not afraid to speak up.
◦ The speech requires students to have prior knowledge of Malala Yousafzai’s story and her fight for
education for women in Pakistan. Malala was 16 years old when she spoke at the UN, the age of some
tenth grade students. Students will be able to connect to her story and build empathy.
◦ The speeches complexity is at a 8th grade level. The lexical level will benefit lower struggles and help
scaffold their reading and comprehension. Students can compare both speeches to understand how
writer’s have their own unique style, but can discuss similar topics.
◦ The knowledge demand for this speech will require students to make real world connections to
education and equality and ways people are suppressed.
◦ Going back to the anchor text to understand how writers can use their personal experiences in their
own writing in order to make an impactful message.

18. Works Cited
◦ Sherman, Alexie 2011 “Good Hair” https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/good-hair
◦ Randall, Dudley 1969 “Ballad of Birmingham” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-
poets/poems/detail/46562
◦ Los Tigeres Del Norte 2001 “Somos Mas Americanos”
◦ Chavez, Caesar 1984 “Address to the Commonwealth Club of California
http://www.chavezfoundation.org/_cms.php?mode=view&b_code=001008000000000&b_no=1
6&page=1&field=&key=&n=7
◦ Yousafzai, Malala 2013 “Address to the United Nations
◦ Lamar, Kendrick 2015 “Mortal Man”
◦ Wordsworth, William “The World Is Too Much With Us”
◦ Bruchac, Joseph “The Boarding School Experience in Native American Literature”